Control method and information processing device

Abstract

To devise ideas so that an extended application for extending a standard driver function provides a better function.SOLUTION: One embodiment of an application of the present invention causes an information processing device to execute: an acquisition step of acquiring first language information, second language information, and first replacement information corresponding to the first language information and having information on a language to be displayed on a print setting screen; a determination step of determining whether or not the first language information and the second language information, which are acquired in the acquisition step, are coincident with each other; and a processing step of processing the first replacement information, wherein the first replacement information is processed to the second replacement information corresponding to the second language information in the processing step when it is determined that the first language information is different from the second language information in the determination step.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 13

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a control method and an information processing device, and more particularly to a technology for an extended application. [Background technology]

[0002] There is a known configuration in which a printer driver installed on a host computer is used as software for controlling the printing device to issue print instructions to a printing device connected to the host computer. An operating system (OS), which is the basic software, is installed on the host computer, and the printer driver is configured according to the specifications defined by the OS and runs when called by the OS. By providing a printer driver that conforms to the OS specifications, a vendor that provides a printing device can provide a means of issuing print instructions to the printing device using the OS.

[0003] In recent years, Windows (registered trademark) has been providing standard class drivers (hereinafter also referred to as "standard drivers") that can be used with printing devices provided by multiple vendors. Such standard drivers are included in the OS package and can be easily used by connecting any printing device to the host computer. This makes it unnecessary to separately install a model-specific printer driver suitable for the printing device, which is highly convenient.

[0004] The standard driver is also configured to be able to specify print functions according to Print Device Capabilities (hereinafter, "PDC") generated based on information obtained from the connected printing device. This allows a user using the standard driver to specify print functions according to the capabilities of the connected printing device, even though the user is using a single standard driver.

[0005] Furthermore, the standard driver generates Print Device Resources (hereinafter "PDR"). A PDR indicates replacement information for replacing character strings representing print functions and setting values ​​written in the PDC with words to be displayed on the print setting screen, and as many PDRs are generated as there are language packages installed in the OS. On the print screen provided by the standard driver or OS, character strings representing print functions and setting values ​​are replaced according to the contents of the PDR that corresponds to a specific language specified by the OS.

[0006] A standard driver can be associated with an application for extending functions (hereinafter also referred to as an "extension application"). An extension application can be provided by the vendor that supplies the printing device. An extension application can provide functions (extension functions) that cannot be realized by the standard driver alone by editing the PDC generated by the standard driver. Editing a PDC means rewriting or deleting existing print functions in the PDC generated by the standard driver, or adding new print functions.

[0007] The extension application can also edit the PDR generated by the standard driver. By editing the PDR generated by the standard driver, the extension application can set the print functions and their setting values ​​to be displayed in any text on the print setting screen provided by the standard driver or OS. Editing a PDR means rewriting existing replacement information or adding new replacement information to the PDR generated by the standard driver.

[0008] Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for extending the functions of a standard driver by editing a PDC based on information acquired from a printer using an extension application. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0009] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-108001 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0010] The extension application of Patent Document 1 can extend the functions of the standard driver (adding printer-specific print functions) by editing the PDC based on information indicating the print functions acquired from the printer, and display a setting screen including the setting values ​​of the added print functions. However, for example, if the language specified by the OS (the language displayed before login) differs from the language set by the user as the display language after login, some setting values ​​may be displayed in the language specified by the OS, which may reduce usability. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, one aspect of the application of the present invention is an application that is stored in a storage means of an information processing device to which a printing device can be connected, and displays a print setting screen corresponding to the printing device, and has an acquisition step of acquiring first language information, second language information, and first replacement information that corresponds to the first language information and has information of words to be displayed on the print setting screen, a judgment step of judging whether the first language information and the second language information acquired in the acquisition step match, and a processing step of processing the first replacement information, and is characterized in that if it is judged in the judgment step that the first language information and the second language information are different, in the processing step, the first replacement information is processed into second replacement information corresponding to the second language information. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to display the print setting screen in a single language. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] Block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the printing system [Diagram 2] Printing system software configuration diagram [Diagram 3] A diagram showing the process flow from editing the PDC to displaying the print settings screen [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a response from the printing device 102 to Get-Printer-Attributes. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 shows an example of a PDC 203 generated by the print data generation software 202. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 shows an example of a PDC 203 edited by a print function expansion unit 207. [Figure 7] A diagram showing an example of a PC generated by an OS based on PDC203. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 shows an example of a PT generated by the OS based on PC701. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a process flow when the print setting screen expansion unit 205 displays a print setting screen. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a print setting screen displayed by the print setting screen expansion unit 205. [Figure 11] FIG. 2 shows an example of a PDR 212 generated by the print data generation software 202. [Figure 12] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example in which a difference occurs in the translation language on the print setting screen displayed by the print setting screen expansion unit 205. [Figure 13] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a process flow for the print function expansion unit 207 to edit the PDR 212. [Figure 14] FIG. 2 shows an example of a PDR 212 edited by the print function expansion unit 207. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the scope of the present invention, and not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the present invention.

[0015] The same components are given the same reference numbers and their explanations are omitted.

[0016] <<Embodiment 1>> <Printing system hardware configuration> 1 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a printing system. In this diagram, a host computer 101 is an example of an information processing device, and has an input interface 110, a CPU 111, a ROM 112, a RAM 113, an external storage device 114, an output interface 115, and an input / output interface .

[0017] Further, input devices such as a keyboard 118 and a pointing device 117 are connected to the input interface 110, and display devices such as a display unit 119 are connected to the output interface 115. The NETIF 120 is a network interface, and performs control for data transfer between external devices via a network.

[0018] An initialization program is stored in the ROM 112. An operating system (OS), a group of application programs such as print data generation software 202 and an extended application 204, and various other data are stored in the external storage device 114. The external storage device 114 is an example of a storage means. The RAM 113 is used as a work memory or the like when various programs stored in the external storage device 114 are executed, and the various programs can run within the host computer 101.

[0019] In this embodiment, the CPU 111 executes processes according to the procedures of a program stored in the ROM 112, thereby executing functions described below in the host computer 101 and processes related to flowcharts described below. The printing device 102, which is a device, is connected to the host computer 101 via an input / output interface 116. Here, the host computer 101 and the printing device 102 are configured separately, but they may also be configured as a single information processing device.

[0020] Note that the printing device will be described as an inkjet printer that prints by ejecting ink onto paper, but printing may be performed by other methods (for example, electrophotography). Also, the host computer 101 may be a desktop personal computer, a notebook computer, a smartphone, a tablet, or the like.

[0021] In this embodiment, a locally connected inkjet printer will be described as an example of the type of the printing device 102. The printing device 102 may be, for example, a laser beam printer (local connection and cloud connection), and may be configured to distinguish between multiple other device types and connection forms, without being limited to the above-mentioned two types.

[0022] The local connection refers to a connection in which the host computer 101 and the printing device 102 are connected in a state in which they can directly communicate with each other via the input / output interface 116 and the NETIF 120. The cloud connection refers to a connection in which the host computer 101 issues a print instruction to the printing device 102 via the NETIF 120 and a cloud print service (not shown) on the Internet.

[0023] In addition, in the charts and diagrams provided below, specific examples of attribute information (Features) and setting values ​​(Options) that indicate the capabilities of a printing device are examples for a printing device whose device type is an inkjet printer, unless otherwise specified.

[0024] <Software-centric printing system configuration> 2 is a diagram showing a schematic software configuration of the printing system. Here, the printing system is described on the premise that a host computer 101 is equipped with Microsoft Windows 11 as the OS. The configuration uses an IPP Class Driver installed in Windows 11 as print data generation software 202.

[0025] The IPP Class Driver is a printer driver that executes print processing according to the specifications of a standard print protocol called IPP (Internet Print Protocol), and is included in the OS package. The IPP Class Driver is not a printer driver specific to the model of the printing device 102, but a standard class driver that can be commonly used by multiple printing devices from multiple printer vendors.

[0026] FIG. 2A illustrates a typical configuration when an extension application 204 is not associated with the print data generation software 202 and the printing device 102. As shown in FIG.

[0027] The drawing application 201 is software that creates content (drawing data) to be printed. For example, this corresponds to a word processing application or a spreadsheet application. When the drawing application 201 receives a print request from a user, it issues a print instruction to the OS. The print instruction includes print setting information for instructing the operation of the print data generation software 202 and the printing device 102. The print setting information is also called a PrintTicket (hereinafter, "PT").

[0028] The drawing application 201 can display a print setting screen provided by the print data generation software 202, the OS, or the drawing application 201 in order to output print setting information.

[0029] The print setting screen includes setting items (hereinafter also referred to as "control items") indicating configurable print functions and control items indicating their setting values ​​according to capability information (information that can be set as print settings) obtained from the print data generation software 202.

[0030] The capability information is also called PrintCapabilities (hereinafter, "PC"). The print data generation software 202 determines the PC based on the print function information 203. The print function information 203 is data indicating all configurable print functions, their setting values, and the exclusive relationships between the setting values.

[0031] Print function information 203 is also called Print Device Capabilities (hereinafter, "PDC"). PDC 203 is included in a configuration file of print data generation software 202, and is dynamically generated by print data generation software 202. Specifically, print data generation software 202 or the OS can be configured to acquire printing device attribute data from printing device 102, and generate PDC 203 according to attribute information in the acquired attribute data.

[0032] The printing device attribute data acquired from the printing device 102 is a response acquired by issuing an IPP Get-Printer-Attributes operation to the printing device. The response includes attribute information (Feature) indicating functions (printing device capabilities) that can be specified by the printing device 102, and setting values ​​(Option) related to that attribute information. This response is saved in the RAM 113.

[0033] Furthermore, the print data generation software 202 has, as one of its configuration files, print-related language information 212, which is information referenced in order to replace the wording of a specific feature or option with words to be displayed on the print setting screen.

[0034] The print-related language information 212 is also called Print Device Resources (hereinafter, PDR), and is dynamically generated by the print data generation software 202, similar to the PDC 203. Specific Features or Options described in the PDR 212 and replacement targets using the PDR 212 will be described later.

[0035] By configuring in this manner, the print data generation software 202 can be configured to allow the user to specify print functions available on each printing device 102 according to the connected printing device 102. In other words, even when printing devices with different functions or printing devices developed by different vendors are connected, the print data generation software 202 can be configured to allow the user to specify print functions available on the connected printing device.

[0036] The OS generates intermediate data (also called input data) based on the print instruction output from the drawing application 201, and passes it to the print data generation software 202. Note that the data output by the drawing application 201 for printing is data in the Graphic Device Interface format (GDI format data) or data in the XML Paper Specification format (XPS format data).

[0037] When an IPP Class Driver is used as the print data generation software 202, when the drawing application 201 outputs data in the GDI format, the OS converts the data in the GDI format into data in the XPS format, and passes the converted data in the XPS format to the print data generation software 202 as intermediate data.

[0038] If the data output by the drawing application 201 is in XPS format, the OS passes the XPS format data as intermediate data to the print data generation software 202. The intermediate data includes drawing data, which is information about a picture to be formed on paper, and print setting information set by the user.

[0039] The print data generation software 202 converts the acquired intermediate data into print data that can be interpreted by the printing device 102, and transmits it to the printing device 102. The print data includes drawing data, which is information about a picture to be formed on paper, and print setting attribute information (attribute information that specifies print settings) generated based on print setting information set by the user. The print setting attribute information includes Features and Options.

[0040] The printing device 102 prints on paper based on the print data sent from the print data generation software 202. At this time, the printing device 102 forms the drawing data included in the print data on paper in accordance with the print setting attribute information included in the print data. The print setting attribute information includes attribute information and its setting value for specifying the print quality (priority on image quality, priority on speed, etc.) and double-sided printing, etc. For example, if the print setting attribute information includes attribute information specifying double-sided printing and a setting value indicating that it is to be performed, the printing device 102 executes double-sided printing.

[0041] 2B is a diagram showing a configuration when the extension application 204 is associated with the print data generation software 202 and the printing device 102. Note that configurations and processes not specifically mentioned below are the same as those in FIG. 2A.

[0042] The extension application 204 is software for extending the functions of the print data generation software 202, and is software that is not included (bundled) in advance in the OS. Therefore, the user operates the host computer 101, downloads the extension application 204 from a server via the Internet, and installs it.

[0043] Alternatively, the extension application 204 may be automatically installed when the printing device 102 is connected to the host computer 101. Specifically, when the printing device 102 is connected to the host computer 101, the OS acquires device identification information from the printing device 102. The OS may download and install the extension application 204 corresponding to the acquired device identification information from a server via the Internet. In other words, the print data generation software 202 and the extension application 204 are held in the host computer 101 as separate files.

[0044] The print data generation software 202 and the extension application 204 may be updated and upgraded, but these update processes are also performed at different times. That is, the timing at which the host computer 101 acquires the print data generation software 202 is different from the timing at which the extension application 204 is acquired. In addition, the trigger at which the host computer 101 acquires the print data generation software 202 is different from the trigger at which the host computer 101 acquires the extension application 204.

[0045] When the extension application 204 is installed, the OS associates the extension application 204 with the print data generation software 202 and the printing device 102 .

[0046] The extension application 204 described in this embodiment includes a print setting screen extension unit 205 , a skip control unit 206 , a print function extension unit 207 , a print data editing unit 208 , a notification unit 209 , and a capability information acquisition unit 211 .

[0047] The extended application 204 also includes shared information 210 that can be commonly accessed by each unit. The shared information 210 is actually a file saved in the external storage device 114 or information stored in the RAM 113. The extended application 204 writes and reads information to and from the shared information 210 by using an API (Application Program Interface) provided by the OS.

[0048] The extension application 204 may terminate operation each time the processing of each unit is completed. In that case, the OS will start the extension application 204 each time a request to use each unit is received. Other configurations are also possible. For example, when the processing of the print setting screen extension unit 205 is completed, the OS will terminate the operation of the extension application 204, but the OS may keep the extension application 204 running even after the processing of the skip control unit 206 is completed.

[0049] Furthermore, the extension application 204 may cancel processing during the processing of each unit. When the processing is canceled, the job being processed in the print queue is deleted by the OS.

[0050] When the drawing application 201 receives a print request from a user, it issues a print instruction to the OS. In this configuration, as in the configuration of FIG. 2(a), the drawing application 201 can display a print setting screen. In this configuration, the print setting screen provided by the extended application 204 is displayed. Specifically, the print setting screen provided by the print setting screen extension unit 205 included in the extended application 204 is displayed. Note that whether or not the print setting screen provided by the print setting screen extension unit 205 is displayed depends on the user's operation. Details of the print setting screen extension unit 205 will be described later using FIGS. 9 and 10.

[0051] Furthermore, when the drawing application 201 receives a print request from a user and issues a print instruction to the OS, the OS starts up the skip control unit 206. The skip control unit 206 controls whether or not to skip the processing of the print data generation software 202. After the skip control processing of the skip control unit 206, the OS generates intermediate data based on the print instruction output from the drawing application 201, and the intermediate data is passed to the print data generation software 202.

[0052] Here, if skip control is not performed by skip control unit 206, the intermediate data is processed by print data generation software 202 into print data that can be interpreted by printing device 102, and is passed to print data editing unit 208. On the other hand, if print data generation software 202 is skipped, the intermediate data is passed to print data editing unit 208 without being processed by print data generation software 202. This makes it possible for the intermediate data to be processed by print data editing unit 208.

[0053] The print data editing unit 208 edits the intermediate data passed from the print data generation software 202 or the print data processed by the print data generation software 202. Taking layout printing as an example of the editing content, the print data editing unit 208 changes the layout of the intermediate data or print data based on the print setting information for layout printing received from the OS.

[0054] Furthermore, the print data editing unit 208 can display a UI screen on the display unit 119, and can provide functions such as displaying intermediate data or the layout result of the print data as a preview screen. Note that while the GUI screen displayed by the print data editing unit 208 on the display unit 119 is left open, the print data is not transmitted to the printing device 102, and the print data transmission process may be started by closing the GUI screen.

[0055] After the print data editing unit 208 edits the print data, the print data is passed to the printing device 102. The printing device 102 prints on paper based on the received print data.

[0056] When the print data generation software 202 is skipped by the skip control unit 206, the print data editing unit 208 may convert the received intermediate data into print data that can be interpreted by the printing device 102. Also, a function provided by the OS may be used to convert the intermediate data into print data.

[0057] The extension application 204 has a print function extension unit 207. The print function extension unit 207 can edit the PDC 203 and the PDR 212 generated by the print data generation software 202.

[0058] The flow from PDC editing to display of the print setting screen is shown in Fig. 3. The process flow shown in Fig. 3 starts when the OS makes a PDC editing request to the print function extension unit 207. Details of PDC editing (S301) by the print function extension unit 207 will be described later using Figs. 4 to 6. By editing the PDC, the print function extension unit 207 can add functions provided by the extension application 204, add functions that are supported by the printing device 102 but not supported by the print data generation software 202, and the like.

[0059] Details of the PDR editing (S302) by the print function extension unit 207 will be described later with reference to Figures 11, 13, and 14. PDR editing makes it possible to uniquely control the replacement of character strings indicating print functions, etc., added by PDC editing with words to be displayed on the print setting screen, and to replace words displayed on the print setting screen with words unique to the printing device 102.

[0060] The print setting screen display process (S303) will be described in detail later with reference to FIGS.

[0061] The OS starts the print function extension unit 207 when the extension application 204 is first associated with the printing device 102 and the print data generation software 202. Furthermore, the OS may start the print function extension unit 207 at other times, such as when the OS starts up.

[0062] In this way, in cases where an optional device (such as a finisher) is added later to the printing device 102 and printing-related functions are expanded, the printing function expansion unit 207 can detect the expanded function and add it to the PDC 203. In addition, at the timing when the printing function expansion unit 207 adds an expanded function to the PDC, replacement information related to the added expanded function can be written in the PDR, making it possible to instantly apply the replacement of the added function.

[0063] The extension application 204 also includes a notification unit 209. The notification unit 209 is capable of displaying a notification to the user in response to an error occurring in the printing device 102.

[0064] For example, when an out-of-paper error occurs in the printing device 102, the print data generation software 202 detects it, and the OS uses a notification function called a toast notification to display a message on the display unit 119. When the user presses this toast notification, the OS calls the notification unit 209 of the extension application 204, and the UI screen of the notification unit 209 is displayed. On the UI screen of the notification unit 209, for example, a detailed message of the out-of-paper error and a method for loading paper can be displayed.

[0065] The configuration of the extension application 204 for realizing this embodiment is not limited to having all of the above-mentioned functions (units), and may have only some of the functions or other functions. The extension application 204 may also be simply called printing software.

[0066] <Example of PDC editing using the print function expansion unit> First, the print data generation software 202 acquires capability information of the printing device 102 connected to the host computer 101, and generates a PDC 203 based on that information. The capability information acquired from the printing device 102 includes information that can be set by the user as print settings when printing to the printing device 102.

[0067] The OS starts the print function extension unit 207 of the extension application 204 and requests editing of the PDC 203 when the extension application 204 is associated with a print queue for the printing device 102. In addition to when the extension application 204 is associated for the first time, the print function extension unit 207 may also be started and a request to edit the PDC 203 is made when the print setting screen is opened by the print setting screen extension unit 205.

[0068] When the print function extension unit 207 receives a PDC editing request from the OS, it acquires the PDC 203 generated by the print data generation software 202 and starts PDC editing.

[0069] The details of the PDC 203 generated by the print data generation software 202 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0070] Information 401 is an example of a response that can be obtained by issuing an IPP Get-Printer-Attributes operation to the printing device 102. The information 401 includes attribute information (Feature) indicating functions that can be specified as IPP attributes on the printing device 102, and setting values ​​(Option) related to that attribute information. As shown in information 401, it is possible to obtain from the printing device 102 information on functions (Feature) such as size and media, and setting values ​​(Option) that can be set for each function.

[0071] The document-format-supported shown in the information 402 indicates the print data format that can be accepted by the printing device 102. The example of the information 402 indicates that the information device 102 supports the data formats 'application / octet-stream', 'image / jpeg', 'image / urf', and 'image / pwg-raster'.

[0072] The print-color-mode-supported information 403 indicates a color mode that can be specified when printing on the printing device 102. The example of the information 403 indicates that the printing device 102 supports the color modes color, monochrome, and auto.

[0073] The "sides-supported" information 404 indicates that the printing device 102 supports two-sided printing, two-sided short-edge printing and two-sided long-edge printing.

[0074] The printer-firmware-name and printer-firmware-version shown in information 405 indicate that the name of the firmware in the main body of the printing device 102 is Inkjet-AAA and the version information is 1.090, respectively.

[0075] The media-size-supported information 406 indicates the media sizes supported by the printing device 102, expressed in units of 1 / 100 mm for width and height. The example of the information 406 indicates that the printing device 102 supports printing on A5, A4, and B5 size paper.

[0076] The information 407 , media-supported, indicates the names of media sizes supported by the printing device 102 .

[0077] The media-type-supported information 408 indicates the types of media supported by the printing device 102. The example of the information 408 indicates that glossy (standard gloss), gold (glossy gold), mat (matte photo paper), stationary (plain paper), photographic (photo paper), and envelope are supported.

[0078] The media-source-supported shown in the information 409 indicates a list of paper feeding methods supported by the printing device 102. The example of the information 409 indicates that the printing device 102 supports auto (automatic selection), main (main tray), rear (rear tray), and disc (CD / DVD tray) as printing paper feeding methods.

[0079] The media-top (bottom / right / left)-margin-supported shown in information 410 indicates the length of the margins that can be set when printing on the printing device 102, with respect to the top, bottom, left, and right of the paper. The attribute values ​​exemplified for information 402 to information 410 are merely examples, and in reality, each attribute value may include attribute values ​​other than those exemplified. Furthermore, the example shown in information 401 is also merely an example, and a response obtained by actually issuing an IPP Get-Printer-Attributes operation to the printing device 102 may include attribute information other than that exemplified.

[0080] The print data generation software 202 obtains information such as the above-mentioned information 401 by issuing an IPP Get-Printer-Attributes operation to the printing device 102, and generates a PDC 203 based on the obtained information.

[0081] An example of a PDC 203 generated by the print data generation software 202 is shown using information 501 in Fig. 5. The PDC 203 is described in xml format as shown in information 501 in Fig. 5, and describes attribute information (Feature) indicating functions that can be specified on the printing device 102 and setting values ​​(Option) related to that attribute information.

[0082] Information 506 represents a character string defined as a prefix of a NameSpace to which each Feature or Option described in information 502 or 504, which will be described later, belongs.

[0083] Specifically, assume that xmlns:psk="http / / schemas.com / printing / printingschemakeywords" is defined as information 506. In this case, by adding "psk" as a prefix to each Feature and Option described in the following information 502 and information 503, it becomes possible to define that the Feature or Option belongs to the NameSpace described above.

[0084] If the NameSpace mentioned above is defined in the OS standard, it is possible to express that the Feature or Option belongs to the OS standard. In this way, the NameSpace represents the set or range to which each Feature or Option belongs. The NameSpace is used to uniquely identify each Feature or Option when the print data generation software 202, the OS, or the extension application 204 refers to the PDC 203 or the PT / PC.

[0085] In addition, as will be described in detail later, the OS replaces the character strings of each Feature and Option when displaying them on the print settings screen. The NameSpace information is also used to identify the Feature or Option to be replaced at that time.

[0086] Information 502 indicates that ISOA4, ISOA5, and ISOB5 can be specified as PageMediaSize (paper size). Here, PageMediaSize indicates a feature, and ISOA4 and the like indicate the setting value (option) for that feature. For features described later, the feature and setting value (option) are written in the same way.

[0087] Information 503 indicates that Borderless (borderless print setting) can be set to Borderless (borderless) or None (bordered).

[0088] Information 504 indicates that Plain (regular paper), Photographic (photo paper), and Envelope Plain (envelope paper) can be specified as PageMediaType (media).

[0089] Moreover, information 505 indicates that Main (main tray), Rear (rear tray), or Disc (CD / DVD tray) can be specified as JobInputBin (paper supply method).

[0090] As described above, information such as the above-mentioned information 401 is acquired by issuing an IPP Get-Printer-Attributes operation to the printing device 102, and a PDC 203 is generated based on the acquired information. The PDC 203 generated here describes only Features and Options that are known to the OS.

[0091] That is, information unique to the printing device 102, such as media: gloss gold or matte photo paper, shown in information 408, is not recorded in the PDC 203, and only media such as OS-standard plain paper and photo paper are recorded in the PDC 203. In this way, in the PDC 203 generated by the print data generation software 202 or the OS, only OS-standard Features and Options are recorded out of the information 401 acquired from the printing device 102.

[0092] The print function extension unit 207 of the extension application 204 can extend the functions available to the user when printing by editing the PDC 203 generated by the print data generation software 202 or the OS. Specifically, by describing new features and options in the PDC 203, it is possible to add functions provided by the extension application 204 and functions supported by the printing device 102 but not supported by the print data generation software 202.

[0093] In this embodiment, the print function extension unit 207 uses the capability information 401 acquired from the printing device 102 by the capability information acquisition unit 211 of the extension application 204 when extending the print function.

[0094] An example of PDC 203 edited by print function extension unit 207 will be described using information 601 shown in Fig. 6. Here, an example will be described in which print function extension unit 207 adds media as an editing process for PDC 203. Information 601 is information 504 to which print function extension unit 207 has added an option. Note that the attributes of information shown in information 602 to information 605 are the same as those of information 502 to information 505, and therefore description thereof will be omitted.

[0095] The print function extension unit 207 adds capability information (information relating to functions unique to the printing device) not described in the PDC 203 shown in the example of information 501, among the capability information 401 acquired by the capability information acquisition unit 211 from the printing device 102, to the PDC 203. Specifically, information 604 indicates that the print function extension unit 207 has added PhotoPaperGlossy (standard gloss), which is a media unique to the printing device 102, to PageMediaType.

[0096] Furthermore, when the print function extension unit 207 adds a feature or option to the PDC 203, it is necessary to newly define the NameSpace to which each feature or option belongs.

[0097] The example of the information 601 indicates that a new NameSpace "http: / / sample.com / printing / printingschemakeywards / v100" has been defined in the information 606 with a prefix "ns0002".

[0098] The information 604 also indicates that by adding "ns0002" to the prefix of the added media, the corresponding media belongs to the NameSpace identified by "ns0002".

[0099] The NameSpace identified by "ns0002" is specific to the printing device vendor, and this information can be obtained from the printing device or a server provided by the vendor.

[0100] In this way, the print function extension unit 207 edits the PDC 203 based on the information acquired by the capability information acquisition unit 211 from the printing device 102. This makes it possible to add functions provided by the extension application 204, or to add functions that are supported by the printing device 102 but not supported by the print data generation software 202, etc.

[0101] The example of adding a function given here as an example of PDC editing by the print function extension unit 207 is just one example, and in reality, it is also possible to add or delete functions, and add exclusive relationships (prohibition information) between setting values ​​of print functions.

[0102] <Example of the screen displayed by the print setting screen expansion unit> Before describing an example of the print setting screen display by the print setting screen expansion unit 205, a specific example of PT / PC will be described.

[0103] PC stands for PrintCapabilities, which describes print setting items that can be set for the printing device 102 and is generated by the print data generation software 202 based on the contents of the PDC 203. Like the PDC 203, the PC is described in xml format, and a specific example is shown in FIG.

[0104] The PC shown in information 701 was generated by the print data generation software 202 based on the PDC 203 (information 501) generated by the print data generation software 202. Since the PC is generated based on the PDC 203, its contents are similar to the PDC 203. Therefore, the nature of information 701 to information 706 is the same as the nature of information 501 to 506, and therefore description thereof will be omitted here.

[0105] According to information 702 to information 705, it is shown that the features of paper size, media type, paper feed method, and borderless printing can be set as print settings for the printing device 102. It is also shown that A4, B5, and A5 are settable options for paper size. It is shown that auto selection, plain paper, photo paper, and envelope paper are settable options for media type. It is shown that auto selection, main tray, rear feed, and CD / DVD feed are settable options for paper feed method. It is shown that on and off are settable options for borderless printing.

[0106] A difference between the PDC 203 and the PC 701 is that the PC 701 describes a DisplayName as an attribute value of each Feature and each Option. The DisplayName is set by referencing the NameSpace defined for each attribute and extracting information corresponding to the display language setting of the logged-in user. The DisplayName represents the words used when each Feature and each Option is displayed on the print setting screen, and is replacement information set by the print data generation software 202 and used commonly by multiple printing devices. In this way, a list of configurable Features and their Options for the printing device 102 is described in the PC.

[0107] On the other hand, PT stands for PrintTicket, and is data in xml format that indicates the current print settings and is generated by the print data generation software 202. A specific example of PT is shown in FIG.

[0108] Information 801 is a PT generated by the print data generation software 202. In the PT, only the currently set Option is described for each Feature described in the PC. For example, information 802 representing the paper size Feature indicates that A4 is set as the current paper size setting.

[0109] Similarly, information 803 to 805 indicate that the current settings for media type, paper feed method, and borderless printing are auto selection, auto selection, and off, respectively.

[0110] The current settings refer to the default print settings that were set when the print data generation software 202 connected to the printing device 102, or the print settings that reflect the values ​​that the user last changed the settings to. In this way, the PT describes the current print settings.

[0111] Next, the process performed by the print setting screen expansion unit 205 to display the print setting screen will be described with reference to the flow diagram shown in Fig. 9. First, the process flow shown in Fig. 9 starts when the OS accepts an instruction from the user to start the print setting screen and starts the print setting screen expansion unit 205 of the extension application 204.

[0112] In S901, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 acquires PT / PC from the OS. Next, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 proceeds to processing in S902, and determines the items to be displayed on the print setting screen. Here, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 determines the Features and Options to be displayed on the print setting screen 1001 shown in Fig. 10. The print setting screen expansion unit 205 determines the Features and Options described in PC as the items to be displayed on the print setting screen.

[0113] Also, items that are not listed on the PC may be displayed on the print setting screen. For example, settings related to print data generation that are not related to the capability information of the printing device 102 may also be determined as display items.

[0114] After determining the items to be displayed on the print setting screen in S902, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 acquires the current print settings from the PT in S903. The current print settings acquired here are referenced so that when the print setting screen is displayed, the print setting screen can be displayed with the currently set Option selected for each Feature.

[0115] Next, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 proceeds to step S904 and determines whether or not replacement information for the Feature or Option determined to be displayed on the print setting screen exists in the PDR 212 (described later).

[0116] If it is determined in S904 that replacement information related to the display items exists in the PDR 212, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 proceeds to processing in S905. In S905, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 acquires the replacement information of the PDR 212 and determines the names of each item to be displayed on the print setting screen.

[0117] On the other hand, if it is determined in S904 that there is no replacement information related to the display items in the PDR 203, the process proceeds to S906. In S906, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 acquires the DisplayName of each Feature and each Option described in the PC, and determines the name of each item to be displayed on the print setting screen.

[0118] After determining the names of the display items in S905 or S906, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 generates a print setting screen in S907. Here, a GUI such as a screen 1001 (FIG. 10) that allows the user to change the print settings is generated, as will be described in detail later.

[0119] Furthermore, after generating the print setting screen in S907, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 proceeds to processing in S908 and instructs the display unit 119 connected to the host computer 101 to display the print setting screen generated in S907. Through the above processing, the print setting screen expansion unit 205 displays the print setting screen on the display unit 119 connected to the host computer 101 when instructed by the OS to start up the print setting screen.

[0120] Next, the print setting screen displayed by the print setting screen expansion unit 205 will be described with reference to Fig. 10. A PC is generated based on the PDC 203 edited by the print function expansion unit 207. A print setting screen 501 in Fig. 10(a) is an example of a screen displayed by the print setting screen expansion unit 205 based on the generated PC. Note that the example of the screen shown in Fig. 10 is merely an example, and is not based on the above-mentioned PC 701 or PT 801.

[0121] A control 1002 is a control item that can set the type of paper used for printing. For example, the items defined in the information 604 (AutoSelect, Plain, PhotoPaperGold, MattePhotoPaper, etc.) can be set.

[0122] Control 1003 is a control item that can set the paper size used for printing. For example, items such as A4, B5, and A5 defined in information 602 can be set. List 1010 shown in Fig. 10(b) shows the display state when control 1003 is expanded, and the user can select the paper size from the expanded list.

[0123] Control 1004 is a control that can set the paper feed method for printing device 102. For example, items defined in information 605 (AutoSelect, Main (main tray), Rear (rear feed), Disc (CD / DVD feed)) can be set. List 1011 shown in Fig. 10(c) shows the display state when control 1004 is expanded, and the user can select the paper feed method from the expanded list.

[0124] Control 1005 is a control item that can set the print orientation, and can be set to portrait or landscape. Control 1006 is a control item that can switch double-sided printing between enabled and disabled. Control 1007 is a control item that can set the binding direction when printing double-sided, and can set items such as long edge binding or short edge binding, for example. Control 1009 is a cancel button that closes the screen without reflecting the settings. Control 1008 is an OK button that reflects the settings and closes the screen.

[0125] The example of the screen shown in FIG. 10 is merely one example, and in reality, the screen may have a configuration in which other features and options can be set, and information other than the print settings may be displayed.

[0126] The words indicating Features and their options displayed on the print setting screen are usually replaced according to the language set by the user logged in to the OS as the display language of the OS. When the print data generation software 202 generates a PC from the PDC 203, for Features and Options that belong to the OS standard NameSpace, the DisplayName included in each element of the PC is generated according to the language of the display language setting. The words indicating Features and Options displayed on the print setting screen refer to the DisplayName of the PC, and are therefore displayed in a state where they have been replaced according to the language of the display language setting.

[0127] On the other hand, the character strings of specific Features or Options are not replaced as described above, and are substituted by referring to the print related language information (PDR) 212. A specific Feature or Option is a Feature or Option that belongs to a NameSpace that is not supported by the print data generation software 202 (that is, is not OS standard).

[0128] The PDR 212 is included in a configuration file of the print data generation software 202, and is dynamically generated by the print data generation software 202, generating PDR 212 for each language in accordance with the language pack installed in the OS. For example, if language packages for English, Japanese, and French are installed in the OS, a total of three PDRs 212 are generated to replace specific character strings with words in English, Japanese, and French, respectively.

[0129] An example of a PDR 212 generated by the print data generation software 202 when the English and Japanese language packages are installed in the OS will be described with reference to FIG.

[0130] Information 1101 and information 1102 are diagrams showing examples of the PDR 212 for replacing a character string of a specific Option with English and Japanese, respectively. The PDR 212 is written in the XML format, like the information 1101 and information 1102 shown in FIG.

[0131] In PDR212, tags <data>The feature or option name described in the name attribute of the element is <value>It is possible to specify that the tag be replaced with a specified word. In PDR 212, each Feature / Option name is described with a NameSpace attached in order to uniquely identify the Feature / Option name.

[0132] In the example of information 1101, it is specified that the character strings "Main," "Rear," and "Disc" defined as Options of JobInputBin in the PDC 203 are to be replaced with "Main tray," "Rear feed," and "CD / DVD feed," respectively.

[0133] In the example of information 1102, it is specified that the options Main, Rear, and Disc defined as Options of JobInputBin in the PDC 203 are to be replaced with the main tray, rear feed, and CD / DVD feed, respectively.

[0134] In this way, the PDR 212 describes the contents that specify replacing the feature / option names displayed on the print setting screen with arbitrary words. In the explanation using information 1101 and information 1102, an example was given in which a specific option is the setting value of the paper feed method. In reality, the specific feature or option described in the PDR 212 may naturally describe something other than the paper feed method and its setting value.

[0135] On the print setting screen, the character string of a specific feature or option is replaced based on the PDR corresponding to a specific language specified by the OS. The OS detects that replacement information for the specific feature or option is written in the PDR 212, and replaces the character string of the specific feature or option displayed on the print setting screen according to the replacement information written in the PDR 212 and displays it.

[0136] The specific language specified by the OS is the language that is set as the language displayed before a user logs in to the OS. Hereinafter, the language setting that is set as the display language by a user who is logged in to the OS will be called the "display language setting," and the language setting that is set as the language displayed before a user logs in to the OS will be called the "pre-login language setting." Note that the pre-login language setting is an example of first language information, and the display language setting is an example of second language information.

[0137] As described above, character strings indicating Features and Options displayed on the print setting screen are usually replaced according to the display language setting. On the other hand, for specific Features and Options, replacement is performed by referring to the PDR 212 (an example of first replacement information) corresponding to the pre-login language setting. A phenomenon that occurs when character strings that are replaced based on the language of the display language setting and character strings that are replaced based on the language of the pre-login language setting are mixed even on the same print setting screen will be described with reference to Figs. 11 and 12.

[0138] A case will be considered in which the display language setting is Japanese, the pre-login language setting is English, and the specific option is an option related to a paper feeding method. A print setting screen 1001 shown in FIG.

[0139] In this case, since the pre-login language setting is English, the OS refers to the PDR 212 for English shown in the information 1101 in FIG. 11A as the PDR 212 for replacing the paper feed method option.

[0140] The OS detects that replacement information regarding the paper feed method is described in the English PDR 212, replaces the character string of the Option regarding the paper feed method with English, and displays it on the print setting screen. Therefore, the control 1201 that displays the list of settings for the paper feed method on the print setting screen 501 displays the list of setting values ​​replaced with English.

[0141] On the other hand, the OS refers to the DisplayName of each element of the PC as replacement information for Features and Options not described in the English PDR 212. Then, character strings related to Features and Options other than the above-mentioned Options are replaced with Japanese and displayed on the print setting screen. Here, as for "Automatic" among the settings of the paper feed method, since it is not described in the English PDR 212 shown in the information 1101 of Fig. 11(a), the PC (Fig. 7) generated according to the display language setting is referenced and replaced with Japanese.

[0142] Typically, the display language setting is set to a language that is readable by the user who is logged in to the OS, and the setting procedure is simple, whereas the pre-login language setting is set to the language of the OS installation media as the initial value. Changing the pre-login language setting requires OS administrator privileges, and the procedure for changing the setting value is also special, so it is not a setting that a user can easily change. In addition, the pre-login language setting may be in a language that the user cannot read.

[0143] In this way, even on the same print setting screen, character strings replaced based on the display language setting and character strings replaced based on the pre-login language setting are mixed, resulting in a problem in which setting values, etc., replaced in a language that is unreadable to the user are displayed.

[0144] Therefore, the present embodiment for solving the problem of the present application is characterized in that the print function extension unit 207 edits the PDR as follows.

[0145] <<Example of the Print Extension Unit editing the PDR>> The print function extension unit 207 can edit the PDC and PDR by being started by the OS at a specific timing. The specific timing can be the timing when the extension application 204 is associated for the first time, the timing when the print setting screen is opened by the print setting screen extension unit 205, etc. The timing illustrated is merely an example, and in reality the OS may start the print function extension unit 207 at other timings as well.

[0146] An example of the PDR editing process executed by the print function extension unit 207 when started by the OS at a specific timing will be described with reference to Fig. 13. The flow diagram in Fig. 13 is a flow diagram of a series of PDR editing processes executed immediately after the print function extension unit 207 is started by the OS and executes PDC editing. Here, it is assumed that the print function extension unit 207 performs PDC editing processing and edits the PDC 203 to look like the PDC shown in information 601.

[0147] In S1301, the print function extension unit 207 uses an API (Get-Current-PrintDeviceResources) of the OS to acquire the PDR 212 currently referenced by the OS. The PDR 212 acquired by the print function extension unit 207 in S1301 is a single PDR 212 that corresponds to the language set as the pre-login language setting of the OS.

[0148] For example, if English is set as the pre-login language setting of the OS, the PDR 212 acquired by the print function extension unit 207 in step S1301 is the PDR 212 corresponding to English.

[0149] Next, in S1302, the print function extension unit 207 acquires the language of the PDR 212 currently being referenced by the OS. The language of the PDR 212 currently being referenced by the OS is information passed to the print function extension unit 207 together with a print function extension instruction issued by the OS to the print function extension unit 207. The language of the PDR referenced by the OS here is the language set as the pre-login language setting of the OS, and for example, in the case of English, it is expressed as a value such as "EN-US".

[0150] Next, in S1303, the print function extension unit 207 acquires the language set in the OS as the display language setting using the API of the OS. The acquired display language setting may be a language setting that can be acquired as an API of the OS. Alternatively, it may be an OS property (Windows.System.UserProfile.GlobalizationPreferences.Languages) that can be referenced from the extension application 204. For example, the language of the display language setting acquired as a property is expressed as a value such as "ja-JP" for Japanese. Note that S1301 to S1303 are an example of an acquisition process, and the print function extension unit 207 is an example of an acquisition means.

[0151] Next, the print function extension unit 207 proceeds to the process of S1304. In S1304, the print function extension unit 207 determines whether the pre-login language setting acquired in S1302 matches the display language setting acquired in S1303.

[0152] If it is determined in S1304 that the pre-login language setting and the display language setting do not match, for example, if the pre-login language setting is English and the display language setting is Japanese, the print function extension unit 207 proceeds to processing in S1305. Note that S1304 is an example of a determination step, and the print function extension unit 207 is an example of a determination means.

[0153] In S1305, the print function extension unit 207 overwrites the replacement information in the PDR 212 with the language set as the display language setting (an example of a processing step. The print function extension unit 207 is an example of a processing means).

[0154] Here, consider a case where the pre-login language setting is English, while the display language setting is Japanese. In this case, the PDR 212 acquired in S1301 is written so that the names of specific features and options are replaced with English, and is the PDR 212 as exemplified in information 1101 in Fig. 11(a). However, since the display language setting is Japanese, it is desirable that the language replaced in the PDR 212 be Japanese.

[0155] Therefore, the print function extension unit 207 overwrites the contents of the PDR 212 so that the feature / option names written in the PDR 212 acquired in S1301 are replaced with Japanese. An example of the PDR 212 edited by the print function extension unit 207 in S1305 is shown in information 1401 (an example of second replacement information) in FIG.

[0156] In the information 1401, the options "Main", "Rear", and "CD / DVD" written on the PDC as the paper feed method are described to be replaced with the words "Main tray", "Rear feed", and "CD / DVD feed", respectively. <data>Within an element <value>By describing the attributes in Japanese, the names of each Feature / Option will be displayed in Japanese.

[0157] The replacement information that the print function extension unit 207 writes to the PDR 212 in S1305 may be replacement information commonly used by a plurality of printing devices (corresponding to the DisplayName written on the PC), or may be replacement information unique to the printing device 102, which will be described later. The replacement information that the print function extension unit 207 writes to the PDR 212 in S1305 may be stored in the shared information 210 in advance, or may be obtained by other methods.

[0158] Editing the PDR in S1305 solves the problem that some feature / option names on the print setting screen are replaced with a language (pre-login language setting: English) different from the display language setting (Japanese), as shown in Fig. 12. When the print function extension unit 207 ends the process of S1305, it proceeds to the process of S1308.

[0159] If it is determined in S1304 that the pre-login language setting and the display language setting match, the print function extension unit 207 proceeds to processing in S1306.

[0160] Here, consider a case where both the pre-login language setting and the display language setting are set to Japanese. In this case, the PDR before being edited by the print function extension unit 207 becomes the PDR 203 (an example of first replacement information) illustrated in the information 1102 in FIG. 11B.

[0161] The print function extension unit 207 determines whether there is replacement information to be rewritten for all replacement information in the PDR 203. The replacement information to be rewritten refers to replacement information related to a feature or option that is desirably replaced with words unique to the printing device 102 on the print setting screen. The features and options that are desirably replaced with words unique to the printing device 102 will be described later.

[0162] In S1306, the print function extension unit 207 determines whether there is replacement information that matches the replacement information list written in the PDR 212 and the replacement information list to be rewritten stored in the shared information 210. If it is determined in S1306 that there is a match, the print function extension unit 207 proceeds to processing in S1307. Note that the replacement information list to be rewritten may be stored as a list in the shared information 210, or may be obtained by other methods.

[0163] In S1307, the print function extension unit 207 replaces the replacement information in the PDR 212 determined to be rewritten in S1306 with replacement information specific to the printing device 102 held by the extension application 204 (an example of a processing step). In other words, the PDR editing in S1307 is a process of replacing generic words with words specific to the printing device 102.

[0164] The PDR 212 is generated by the print data generation software 202, and the words entered in the PDR 212 as replacements for each Feature or Option are limited to generic words that are independent of the model of the connected printing device 102. Although Main, which is one of the options for the paper feed method, is defined as the same Main in the IPP attributes, it is often given a different name depending on the printing device. For example, the paper feed method that indicates Main in the IPP attributes may be called the "main tray" in one printing device and called the "cassette" in another printing device.

[0165] 11B, the paper feed method "Main" is replaced with "Main tray," and is displayed as "Main tray" on the print setting screen. However, in the printing device 102 itself, in a Web manual, etc., the paper feed method "Main" may be referred to as "cassette," which may confuse the user setting up the print settings.

[0166] In this way, features and options expressed by the same IPP attributes may be called differently depending on the vendor or printing device. To resolve this discrepancy, the print function extension unit 207 replaces the replacement information in the PDR 212 determined to be rewritten in step S1306 with replacement information specific to the printing device 102 held by the extension application 204.

[0167] The result of editing the PDR by the print function extension unit 207 in S1307 is shown in information 1402 (an example of third replacement information) in FIG.

[0168] In the information 1102 before editing (FIG. 11), the paper feed methods Main, Rear, and CD / DVD were described to be replaced with main tray, rear feed, and CD / DVD feed, respectively. Meanwhile, in the information 1402 which is the PDR 203 edited by the print function expansion unit 207, these are described to be replaced with cassette, rear tray, and multipurpose tray, respectively. Note that the replacement information which the print function expansion unit 207 writes to the PDR 212 in S1307 may be stored in advance in the shared information 210, or may be obtained by other methods.

[0169] In this way, by editing the PDR in S1307, it is possible to replace the wording of the Feature and Option displayed on the print setting screen from generic wording to names specific to the vendor or the connected printing device 102. When the print function extension unit 207 ends the process of S1307, it proceeds to the process of S1308. Even if it is determined in S1306 that there is no replacement information to be rewritten, the print function extension unit 207 proceeds to the process of S1308.

[0170] 3, the print function extension unit 207 determines whether features or options unique to the printing device 102 were added to the PDC 203. If it is determined in S1308 that features or options have been added, the print function extension unit 207 proceeds to processing in S1309. If it is determined that features or options have not been added, the print function extension unit 207 ends processing related to PDR editing.

[0171] In S1309, the print function extension unit 207 edits the PDR 212 so that each character string for the Feature or Option added to the PDC 203 is replaced with the language of the display language setting acquired in S1303. Here, it is assumed that the pre-login language setting and the display language setting are both Japanese, and that the PDC 203 has been edited to the PDC shown in information 601 in FIG. 6 as a result of PDC editing by the print function extension unit 207.

[0172] In this case, PhotoPaperGlossy, PhotoPaperGold, and MattePhotoPaper have been added to the PDC 203 as media unique to the printing device 102. Also, the PDR 212 before the PDR editing by the print function extension unit 207 is the PDR indicated by the information 1102 in FIG.

[0173] In such a case, an example of the edited PDR 212 as a result of the PDR editing process of the print function extension unit 207 in S1309 is shown in information 1403 in Fig. 14C. According to the information 1403, it is added that PhotoPaperGlossy, which is an option added to the PDC 203, should be replaced with glossy standard. Also, it is added that PhotoPaperGold and MattePhotoPaper should be replaced with glossy gold and matte photo paper, respectively.

[0174] For Features and Options added to the PDC 203 by the print function extension unit 207, the text written on the PDC 203 is set as the DisplayName attribute of the PC, regardless of the pre-login language setting or display language setting. Therefore, if replacement information is not added to the PDR 212 for Features and Options added to the PDC 203, the text written on the PDC 203 will be displayed on the print setting screen.

[0175] Therefore, in S1309, for the Features and Options added to the PDC 203 by the print function extension unit 207, replacement information for the display language setting is added to the PDR 212. This makes it possible to prevent the character strings of the Features and Options added to the PDC 203 by the print function extension unit 207 from being displayed on the print setting screen without being replaced.

[0176] The replacement information that the print function extension unit 207 writes to the PDR 212 in S1309 may be replacement information related to the language set in the display language setting of the OS, or may be replacement information unique to the printing device 102. The replacement information that the print function extension unit 207 writes to the PDR 212 in S1309 may be stored in advance in the shared information 210, or may be obtained by another method.

[0177] As described above, the first embodiment is characterized in that the print function extension unit 207 of the extension application 204 edits the PDR 212 based on the display language setting.

[0178] The above configuration makes it possible to solve the problem of some feature / option names being displayed in multiple languages ​​on the print setting screen. Also, features and options that are expressed with the same IPP attributes but are called by different names depending on the vendor or printing device can be displayed separately on the print setting screen. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent the character strings of features and options that the print function extension unit 207 adds to the PDC 203 from being displayed on the print setting screen without being replaced.

[0179] <<Embodiment 2>> Needless to say, the object of the present invention can also be achieved by supplying a recording medium on which is recorded the program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-mentioned embodiments to a system / apparatus, and having a computer in the system / apparatus read and execute the program code. In this case, the program code itself read from the recording medium will realize the functions of the above-mentioned embodiments, and the recording medium on which the program code is stored constitutes the present invention.

[0180] Examples of storage media for supplying the program code include flexible disks, hard disks, optical disks, magneto-optical disks, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, magnetic tapes, non-volatile memory cards, ROMs, and DVDs.

[0181] Needless to say, this also includes cases where an Operating System (OS) running on a computer performs some or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of the program code, and the functions of the above-mentioned embodiments are realized through that processing.

[0182] Furthermore, the program code read from the storage medium may be written to a memory provided on a function expansion board inserted into a computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, and then, based on the instructions of the program code, a CPU provided on the function expansion board or function expansion unit may perform part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-mentioned embodiments may be realized by the processing. [Explanation of symbols]

[0183] 101 Host Computer 102 Printing device 202 Printing data generation software 203 PDC 204 Extended Applications 205 Print setting screen expansion unit 207 Printing function expansion unit 211 Ability Information Acquisition Unit 212 PDR< / value> < / data> < / value> < / data>

Claims

1. An application that is stored in a storage unit of an information processing device to which a printing device can be connected and that displays a print setting screen corresponding to the printing device, an acquisition step of acquiring first language information, second language information, and first replacement information that corresponds to the first language information and has information on words to be displayed on the print setting screen; a determination step of determining whether the first language information and the second language information acquired in the acquisition step match; a processing step of processing the first replacement information; causing the information processing device to execute the above steps; An application characterized in that, when it is determined in the judgment process that the first language information and the second language information are different, in the processing process, the first replacement information is processed into second replacement information corresponding to the second language information.

2. the first language information is information about a language to be displayed before logging in to the information processing device, 2. The application according to claim 1, wherein the second language information is information about a language that a user of the information processing device has set as a display language.

3. The application described in claim 1, characterized in that if it is determined in the judgment process that the first language information matches the second language information, in the processing process, the first replacement information is processed into third replacement information corresponding to the second language information, the third replacement information being replacement information unique to the printing device.

4. The application according to claim 1 , wherein the second replacement information is replacement information commonly used by a plurality of printing devices.

5. 2. The application of claim 1, wherein the second replacement information is unique to the printing device.

6. When it is determined in the determining step that the first language information and the second language information are different, in the processing step, information regarding a function unique to the printing device is added to the second replacement information; The application described in claim 1, characterized in that if the judgment step determines that the first language information and the second language information match, in the processing step, information regarding functions unique to the printing device is added to the first replacement information.

7. 4. The application of claim 3, further comprising adding information about features unique to said printing device to said third replacement information.

8. An information processing device to which a printing device can be connected, a display means for displaying a print setting screen corresponding to the printing device; an acquisition unit for acquiring first language information, second language information, and first replacement information that corresponds to the first language information and has information on words to be displayed on the print setting screen; a determination means for determining whether the first language information and the second language information acquired by the acquisition means match; a processing means for processing the first replacement information, An information processing device characterized in that, when the judgment means determines that the first language information and the second language information are different, the processing means processes the first replacement information into second replacement information corresponding to the second language information.

9. the first language information is information about a language to be displayed before logging in to the information processing device, 9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the second language information is information about a language that a user of the information processing apparatus has set as a display language.

10. 9. The information processing device according to claim 8, wherein when the determination means determines that the first language information matches the second language information, the processing means processes the first replacement information into third replacement information corresponding to the second language information, the third replacement information being replacement information unique to the printing device.

11. 9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the second replacement information is replacement information commonly used by a plurality of printing apparatuses.

12. 9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the second replacement information is replacement information unique to the printing apparatus.

13. When the determining means determines that the first language information and the second language information are different, in the processing step, information regarding a function unique to the printing device is added to the second replacement information; 9. The information processing device according to claim 8, characterized in that, when the determination means determines that the first language information and the second language information match, in the processing step, information regarding functions unique to the printing device is added to the first replacement information.

14. 11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein information relating to a function unique to said printing device is added to said third replacement information.

Images